When You Wish Upon A Star…

Join us for an unforgettable evening of jazz music that celebrates 100 years of Disney. When You Wish Upon a Star is performed by the newly-created house band for the The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. Pianist and Music Director Sean Mason leads a five-piece band and two singer-storytellers, Tahira Clayton and Sasha Dobson, bringing these beloved, nostalgic songs to life. Don’t miss iconic songs like “Someday My Prince Will Come,” “He’s a Tramp,” “Everybody Wants to be a Cat,” and “The Bare Necessities,” performed with the syncopated rhythm and complex harmonies that define jazz.

From Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to Lady and the Tramp, Toy Story to The Jungle Book, songs from these famous films have been interpreted and recorded by artists who are fans of Disney music, including Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Dianne Reeves, and Jamie Cullum. 

Affiliated with The Smithsonian, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem is led by Artistic Directors Jon Batiste and Christian McBride to preserve, promote, and present jazz in order to appreciate, inspire and celebrate this uniquely American genre of music.

Disney movies are known for their catchy tunes and memorable songs. But did you know that some of them also feature jazz music? Here are a few examples:

•“The Princess and the Frog” (2009) is set in New Orleans and features a number of traditional jazz songs, including “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Iko Iko.”

•“The Jungle Book” (1967) features a number of jazz-influenced songs, including “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wanna Be Like You.”

• “Mary Poppins” (1964) features a number of songs with a jazz influence, including “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

So next time you watch a Disney movie, keep your ears open for some toe-tapping jazz tunes. Or come hear many of these and more at When You Wish Upon A Star: A Jazz Tribute to 100 Years of Disney!

This performance will be fun for the whole family… from five to 105.

*This production is not affiliated with, sponsored or authorized by The Walt Disney Company. 

Performance Location: Geiger Performing Arts Center, 16713 Ella Blvd., Houston, Texas 77070
Date & Time: 7:30 p.m., Saturday, November 11, 2023
Tickets: $45, $55, $65 & $75
Season Ticket Sales: On Sale Now
Single Ticket Sales: 9am, Monday, July 31, 2023
Valet Parking: $15/car. Pre-order online with credit card or pay cash the night of the event.

About the artists….

Born and raised in Charlotte, NC, Sean Mason taught himself by ear how to play the piano at the age of 13. His beginning musical roots included mostly of what he heard growing up: Gospel, R&B, and Soul music, but then he discovered jazz and decided to make a career of it. After his studies at both The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and The Juilliard School, Sean quickly made a name for himself in New York City, consistently performing and touring with many jazz legends, including Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Herlin Riley, among many others – while also venturing outside of the genre working with artists such as Masego, Roy Blair, and Kenneth Whalum. He is most noted for his ability to fluently play many different styles of music, spanning across multiple genres and generations of artists – and while continuing to be an in-demand sideman, Sean also leads his own band, the “Sean Mason Quintet”, which primarily performs his original music, and tours around the world. Aside from his performing career, Sean works in the film and theater space: in film, as the pianist for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix) and “Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre” (The History Channel). In theater, Sean has worked on both “Hadestown” (Broadway) and “Phantom of the Opera” (Broadway), and also is a freelance music director for various creative projects spanning multiple genres and styles.

Tahira Clayton is an up and coming urban contemporary jazz vocalist and band leader who hails from the Dallas-Fort Worth area where she started performing professionally at the age of 10. Singing in various church bands, Tahira learned how to cultivate her big sound. At the age of 11, Tahira competed and won the University of North Texas Vocal Jazz Camp Scholarship, allowing her to attend the university’s prestigious camp as the youngest ever attendee. During her time at this camp Tahira found a love for vocal jazz music that would undoubtedly color the future of her career. By high school, Tahira was performing in the Grammy Award Winning Plano Senior High School A Cappella choir (PSHS). While performing for PSHS, she was chosen to sing in a choir directed by Anton Armstrong from St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Also during this time, Tahira received her first full time job as a vocalist singing for the Roof Raisers Variety Band. Tahira currently lends her performance talents to the New York company, the Band Method.  As well as being an active performer, Tahira is an in-demand clinician and educator. Working with elementary to high school-aged pop/jazz choirs, Tahira exposes younger minds to song interpretation, group and individual performance technique, as well as group and individual vocal technique. Tahira currently holds a teaching position at Bach To Rock: America’s Music School in New York City, specializing in private voice instruction, beginning piano, and early childhood music. Tahira also holds a teaching position at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, directing 3 choirs throughout New York City. Tahira is a graduate of the University of North Texas (Class of 2015) where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Music with an emphasis in Vocal Jazz. 

Sasha Dobson has performed all over the world in diverse contexts as a leader and first-call collaborator. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist represents one-third of hit trio Puss ‘n Boots, alongside Catherine Popper and Blue Note Artist Norah Jones, with whose band Sasha has toured fairly regularly for the past eight years. As a guitarist and songwriter, Sasha bonds intuitive phrasing and refined storytelling chops with her honest, witty lyric-writing. Daughter of vocalist Gail Dobson and highly sought pianist and arranger, the late Smith Dobson, Sasha developed a core understanding of the lineage of jazz from an early age — one that has allowed her to develop into the powerhouse singer and multi-instrumentalist she’s become. In addition to traveling the world as a three-dimensional performer, Sasha spent her early days in New York hitting as a leader at many of the city’s noted venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center and Smalls Jazz Club where she and her band are a regular fixture. In recent years, she’s led her own project at Farm Aid and opened for Willie Nelson. In 2020, Sasha released Simple Things, her anticipated EP featuring Don Was on bass and production and Jay Lane on drums. Her 2021 release of Girl Talk featuring guitarist Peter Bernstein reflects her most personal contribution to the music to date.